Baroque and Rococo Architecture contrasts, or uniform lighting by means

of several windows.
17th – 18th century
• Opulent use of color and ornaments
Baroque (putti or figures made of wood (often
gilded), plaster or stucco, marble or faux
• Means Pearl of irregular shape
finishing).
• Very fancy, elaborated
• Large-scale ceiling frescoes.
• Over decorated
• Over ornamented
• Imperfection
Baroque Architecture – “Architecture of the
Curved Line”
Summary of Baroque Architecture

• Early Baroque ca. 1600-25 – Maderno

(façade of St. Peter’s)
• High Baroque ca. 1625-75 – Bernini and
Borromini (sacred architecture)
• Late Baroque ca. 1675-1725 – chateaux
(notably Versailles)
• Rococo ca. 1725-1800 –
Austria/southern Germany (notably
churches)
• External facade often characterized by a
Characteristics:
dramatic central projection.
• The fundamental characteristic of • The interior is a shell for painting,
Baroque art is dynamism (a sense of sculpture and stucco.
motion). • Illusory effects like an art technique
• Strong curves, rich decoration, and involving extremely realistic imagery in
general complexity are all typical order to create the optical illusion that
features of Baroque art. the depicted objects appear in three
• Baroque architecture is distinguished dimensions and the blending of painting
primarily by richly sculpted surfaces. and architecture.
• A Baroque facade, often features an • Pear-shaped domes in the Bavarian,
attention-grabbing concentration of rich Czech, Polish and Ukrainian Baroque.
elements. • New subjects: landscape, genre, still-
• In churches, broader naves and life.
sometimes given oval forms.
Asymmetrical spaces and diagonal
plans.
• Fragmentary or deliberately incomplete
architectural elements.
• Dramatic use of light, color and light
contrasted; either strong light-and-shade
 the high altar. The other is the curving
colonnades that frame St Peter's Square.

Francesco Borromini

• The master of curved-wall architecture.

Early Baroque • Saint Charles at the Four Fountains

Carlo Maderno

• The foremost pioneer of Baroque

architecture.
• His masterpiece is the facade of Saint
Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.

Late Baroque

• France
• Baroque art of France (and northern
Europe generally) tends to be restrained,
such that it can be described as a
classical-Baroque compromise.
• The most distinctive element - double-
sloped mansard roof (a French
innovation).
• Chateaux (grand country residences),
greatest of which is the Palace of
High Baroque
Versailles.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini

• He created a fusion of architecture,

painting and sculpture
• Famous works found at St Peter's. One is
the four-story baldachin that stands over
 England

Spain

• At the beginning it continued the pattern

of the Escorial
Central Europe • Decoration tends to concentrate just in
the facade
• The Rococo was the time of the
development of the Churrigueresque
style, with exaggerated decoration around
the door
• The Plateresque (last Renaissance that
imitates the work on silver) and the
Churrigueresque were exported to
America, mainly to Mexico.
Rococo • Ornament— natural forms, branches,
garlands, acanthus. Ensemble of sportive,
• Rococo style, in interior design, the
fantastic and sculptured forms.
decorative arts, painting, architecture, and
• Walls covered by stucco
sculpture that originated in Paris in the
• Color scheme lightened, white and bright
early 18th century.
colors, pastel colors, mirror surfaces
• It was soon adopted throughout France
multiplied & angles softened.
and later in other countries, principally
Germany and Austria.
• It is characterized by lightness, elegance,
and an exuberant use of curving, natural
forms in ornamentation.
• The word Rococo is derived from the
French word rocaille, which denoted the
shell-covered rock.
• At the outset the Rococo style
represented a reaction against the Difference between Baroque and Rococo
ponderous design of Louis XIV's Palace
• One of them being symmetry, since
of Versailles and the official Baroque art
Rococo emphasized the asymmetry of
of his reign.
forms, whilst Baroque was the opposite.
• Several interior designers, painters
• The styles, despite both being richly
developed a lighter and more intimate
decorated, also had different themes.
style of decoration for the new residences
• the Baroque, for instance, was more
of nobles in Paris.
serious, placing an emphasis on religion,
• In the Rococo style, walls, ceilings, and
and was often characterized by Christian
moldings were decorated with delicate
themes whereas rococo have light
interlacing of curves and counter-curves
hearted and jocular theme.
based on the fundamental shapes of the
• Other elements belonging to the
"C" and the "S," as well as with shell
architectural style of Rococo include
forms and other natural shapes.
numerous curves and decorations, as
Characteristics: well as the usage of pale colors.
• Rococo is an entirely interior style, they
• Light curvilinear decoration; Shell-like
simply renovated the interiors of the
curves; Horizontal lines almost completely
existing buildings.
suppressed. Abstract sinuosity — scrolls,
interlace & arabesques
• Elegant, lighthearted, gay manner,
gallant: luxurious things, elegant parlors,
dainty sitting-rooms and boudoirs.
• Chinoiserie: exotic character imitating
Chinese arts
• Walls, ceiling, furniture and works of
metal as decoration